This funding opportunity announcement follows a preliminary application phase that took place earlier this year. This announcement is for final applications, due by 14 October 2006. Final application is by invitation only.

DOE is requesting final applications in the following two categories:

Category 1: Projects that support and complement activities of the existing Hydrogen Storage Centers of Excellence in Metal Hydrides, Chemical Hydrogen Storage, and Carbon-Based Materials. Such projects must help establish important new technical approaches or capabilities not presently available at the Centers.

Category 2: Independent research and development projects that address one of three technical topics: 1) Materials Discovery; 2) Engineering Science; or 3) Systems, Safety and Environmental Analyses.

Separately, a team of researchers in Korea announced that they have identified a new material—titanium attached to a polymer—with a structure that can store hydrogen at normal temperature without pressurization.

Professor Jisoon Ihm and his team determined that Ti-decorated cis-polyacetylene would have reversibly usable gravimetric and volumetric density of 7.6 wt% and 63 kg/m3, respectively, near ambient conditions.

The thesis by Prof. Ihm’s team was published in the 4 August issue of Physical Review Letters.

Saying we have been investing in electric cars for a century (without better batteries) seems a bit unfair. If you look at the data, little had been done up until about 10-15 years ago (with the inventtion of NiMH). Even still, it has only been within the past 5 years that serious research has been conducted in finding a better battery than those (NiMH).

The hydrogen economy sounds great and I hope someday it can be achieved. However, battery technology seems more feasible and practical at this point. Efficiency losses
of producing and storing hydrogen make batteries a "no-brainer" to me. Better yet, if I could generate electricity from solar, I could do so much more effectively by just storing electrons in a battery than using them to split H20.

I often wonder though where we would be if battery research had been done for the last century. I guess Mr. Edison was right.

By the same token cs I recall reading of the promise of hydrogen since the eighties.To label it a Dubya fantasy is to be ignorant of the hydrogen timeline in scientific and political circles.

To be sure the president has backed this horse.So has the venerable Honda corporation.Is Honda on some quixotic adventure?Honda is already rolling out its home energy station units.

I agree with the gentleman who said we must pursue multiple answers to energy issues.Perhaps hydrogen would end up in distributed stationary power production.Home solar and wind systems could could be used to produce hydrogen.Windmills off peak mebbe?

Whether hydrogen gets to much of the funding pie may be a better subject of debate.I think working together for ecological as well as national energy security issues would be more productive than "foot in mouth" polemics.

I am not so concerned about reserach on hydrogen as I am the direction. IMHO hydrogen as a carrier fuel for fixed location distributed electric generation would be the first step, not onboard transportation fuel. Hydrogen could be transported through pipeliles from wind farms or other distant or intermittent primary energy sources.

Meanwhile, we are watcing a developing energy (economic) crisis. I don't buy the idea that oil prices are coming down to $40 ever -- soon or otherwise, and if they rise, which seems a high probability, we are in trouble. Even if oil prices were to drop temporarily, we need to deal with the energy issue for national defnese reasons. So, why are we not putting more money into incentives for known technologies such as HEV's cleaner and more consistent Diesel fuel, etc. These are things that can be done NOW.

The best hydrogen (H2) storage is in CH4 (CNG-Compressed Natural gas). Compressed to the same pressure of H2, a car can travel 3-1/2 times further. An ICE-electric hybrid can be tuned to run on both compressed H2 and CNG. For daily commute, fill the tank with compressed H2 at 300 bars for ~120 miles range, from H2 produced locally and from renewable sources, include gasification of biomass with CO2 capturing. For long-range trip, fill it up with CNG and you can travel >400 miles between fill up.

Why waste money on any further H2 storage scheme? We need to focus our energy (no pun intended) on efficient H2 generation from renewable energy. High-temp solid oxide electrolysis and direct photo-electrolysis from solar energy appear promising. Likewise, high temp heat from gas power station can be coupled from wind energy to produce efficient H2.

As I pointed out to a friend a ways back in the end its very liekly a car will simply be an electric car with a simple modual to convert the generator section from various feed stocks depending on whatever is cheapest in each area.

In some areas gas will be cheaper for a very long time so a small gas generator will be in that space and a small gas tank. In others petro gas will be cheap and a gas tank and generator or gas using fuel cell will be in the modual.

In still others there will be no cheap pumpable fuel and instead they will use much more excpensive batteries to extend to range far enough to handle the job.

But the end result will be the use of many fuels and thus cars that can handle them.

I agree CNG is a good way to go. Even if you could produce H2 with wind, it might be good to consider making
CH4 out of it using the CO2 from ethanol plants, so that you could transport it using existing NG pipelines.

HEy just to share:
Since DME has an advantage of decomposition at lower temperature than methane and LPG, R&D for hydrogen source for fuel cell has been carried out. DME has a potential of feedstock for chemicals. DME to olefins is under development in Japan.

If you would like to know more on the latest DME developments, join us at upcoming North Asia DME / Methanol conference in Beijing, 27-28 June 2007, St Regis Hotel. The conference covers key areas which include:

DME productivity can be much higher especially if
country energy policies makes an effort comparable to
that invested in increasing supply.
By:
National Development Reform Commission NDRC
Ministry of Energy for Mongolia

Production of DME/ Methanol through biomass
gasification could potentially be commercialized
By:
Shandong University completed Pilot plant in Jinan and
will be sharing their experience.

Advances in conversion technologies are readily
available and offer exciting potential of DME as a
chemical feedstock
By: Kogas, Lurgi and Haldor Topsoe

Available project finance supports the investments
that DME/ Methanol can play a large energy supply role
By: International Finance Corporation